Mt Ascutney 06-29-2003

Perspective by Rich Bolt

"Hey, that's not what we planned!", I thought to myself at
the 1/2 mile mark. "This is going to suck", were my next
remarks. Before the start of the Mt. Ascutney Run for the
Summit, Dave Dunham, Eric Morse and myself had made an
"arrangement". It was the end of the series, we were all
nursing injuries and the USATF-NE 20k championships were
taking place the next day. "Let's just take it easy and run
together"; after all, we were all going to the US National
Mountain Running Championships the next weekend in Vail, CO
and nobody wanted to be a hero today. That was until Eric
decided to "race".

This screws up my plans. I was wearing my training shoes
and didn't really get my motor fired up for this 3.7 mile
sprint up 2250' of Mt. Ascutney. Also messing up the plan
was the arrival of Ben Nephew and Greg Colburn at the race.
These guys were good and were not likely to let us take an
easy jog to the summit.

So as I was saying, Eric took off at the 1/2 mile mark
leaving Dave, myself and the rest of the lead pack behind.
Not to be outdone, Dave and I also picked up the pace and
began to spread out the lead pack. When I say "we" what I
really mean is Dave picked up the pace and I struggled to
stay in contact with him. Upon reaching the first water
stop at mile 1, we were greeted by a cigarette smoking race
volunteer kind enough to extinguish his face full of fire
as he handed out water.

Mile 1 to 2 continued to climb steeply and I began to have
thoughts of doubt. Dave was pulling away and I knew Dr.
Nephew was not far behind. I could see Eric ahead bounding
easily up the hill. Unlike Mt. Washington or other New
England mountain races, there are no views on the way to
the summit of Ascutney. The pavement quality is very good
and a lush green canopy of trees gives good shade for most
of the climb. With no majestic vistas or precipitous drops,
one only has the runner ahead of them to focus on and
wonder..... can I catch that guy?

Once I got to mile 3 and a short flatish stretch, I knew I
was going to make it and tried to close to gap to Dave.
Eric was long out of sight, but with no pressure from
behind I did my best to put the hammer down. Not a big
hammer; in fact, maybe just a plastic Tonka hammer, but a
hammer none the less. Each 10th of a mile is painted on the
road in the final 1/2 mile of the climb. It's a nice way to
gauge how much effort to expend, but I couldn't remember
how far the race was - 3.6 or 3.7 or 3.8 miles? I'm sure
I've seen or heard all 3 versions.

At last I could hear the small crowd cheering Eric's
arrival and I knew the finish was just around the corner. I
was surprised to see clock ticking thru 30:30 as I crossed
the line, only 15 seconds slower than last year. I was
followed by trail standout and newly crowned "Dr." Ben
Nephew and series newcomer Greg Colburn. 6th place was
fellow CMS member and Pack Monadnock winner Rod Viens.

Next time I'll need a better plan.......or more cooperative
teammates.